Cox Chapel School Dist. No. 4 of Atchison County v. Atchison County Superintendent of Schools, 24979
| Decision Date | 03 June 1968 |
| Docket Number | No. 24979,24979 |
| Parties | COX CHAPEL SCHOOL DISTRICT NO. 4 OF ATCHISON COUNTY, Missouri, et al., Appellants, v. ATCHISON COUNTY SUPERINTENDENT OF SCHOOLS et al., Respondents. |
| Court | Missouri Court of Appeals |
Beavers & Zahnd, Joe Beavers, Maryville, Getscher & Getscher, Edwin A. Getscher, Hamburg, Iowa, for appellants.
Walter L. Mulvania, Rock Port, John M. Gerlash Tarkio, for respondents.
This is an action for injunctive relief. The appeal was first considered by our Supreme Court as reported in 426 S.W.2d 913 and that court, after disposition of those constitutional questions sought to be raised, transferred the case to this court with the admonition that, '* * * the only question properly presented by this appeal is whether or not the trial court erroneously dismissed plaintiffs' petition on the ground that the organization of the new district had been concluded and therefore quo warranto was the only procedure whereby the question of the validity of the formation of the new district could be raised.'
We will adopt and quote from that opinion those facts which appear to be relevant to the remaining issue preserved for our review. They are:
'The Atchison County Board of Education prepared a plan of reorganization of the unreorganized school districts of the county. The plan combined Common School Districts 4 (Cox Chapel), 5 (Union), 14 (Highland), 15 (Star) and C--2 (Watson) with R-II District (Rock Port). The State Department of Education approved the plan. On January 31, 1966, the county board set an election on the proposal for February 18, 1966. The election was held on that date and the proposal approved by a vote of 660 for and 349 against the proposal. (The vote at Cox Chapel School House was against the proposal, by 37 to 1, at Star School House, against 75 to 1, at Watson School House, against by 96 to 46, but favorable at Rock Port by 609 to 135.)
'The county board met in the evening of February 18, canvassed the results of the election and declared that the election creating the newly formed School District R-II had been legally held. The board fixed March 11 as the date for the election of members of the board of education of the new district.
'On March 10, 1966, the action which is the subject of this appeal was filed in the Atchison County Circuit Court by Cox Chapel School District No. 4 and approximately fifty individuals who described themselves as taxpayers of Cox Chapel District and parents of children of school age within the district. The defendants are the Atchison County Superintendent of Schools and the members of the County Board of Education.
'The petition alleged that the action of the County Board of Education in including the Cox Chapel District within the proposed reorganized district was an abuse of discretion for the reason that the Cox Chapel District was separated from the remainder of the proposed reorganized district by the Nishnabotna River, across which there are no roads or bridges; that the 'only outlet' for school children in the area is into the State of Iowa and children presently residing in the district are being educated in the Hamburg, Iowa (Community School District; that the proposed district could serve the Cox Chapel District only by transporting the children 23 to 30 miles, immediately past the Hamburg school.
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'The prayer of the petition was (as far as pertinent here) * * * for a restraining order 'from further acts or reorganization procedure including the election of directors,' for a temporary injunction and a permanent injunction against further proceedings for reorganization and for a judgment that the 'reorganization procedure be declared null and void.'
'On the date that the petition was filed, the court issued a temporary restraining order against further acts of reorganization procedure, including the election of directors, and set a hearing on the request for a temporary injunction on March 28.
'The election of directors for the new R-II district was held on April 5 and the results canvassed and six directors declared elected at a meeting of the County Board of Education on the evening of April 5.
As previously noted, the one issue in this appeal is the right of plaintiffs to maintain this suit in equity for injunctive relief. Although the allegations of the petition are directed toward the named defendants who comprise the Atchison County Board of Education, and initially seek to enjoin the board from calling an election for selection of a new board of the school district as reorganized, the ultimate objective as stated in the prayer thereof is for a judgment that the ...
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...(Mo.App.1983); Phipps v. School Dist. of Kansas City, 645 S.W.2d 91 (Mo.App.1982). For example, see Cox Chapel Sch. Dist. No. 4 v. Atchison Co. Sup. of Sch., 429 S.W.2d 348 (Mo.App.1968). However, it is not necessary to decide if review under § 536.150 is inapplicable for other reasons. It ......
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Guelker v. Evans, 40149
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